


Words to Live Your Life By

by lunarweather



Series: Words to Live By [1]
Category: Marvel, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers - Ambiguous Fandom
Genre: Bucky Barnes Has Issues, Bucky Barnes Recovering, Clint Barton Feels, Clint Barton Has Issues, Clint Barton Needs a Hug, I may not know either, Lack of Communication, Platonic Soulmates, Romantic Soulmates, Soulmate-Identifying Marks, Soulmates, they don't, who knows - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-31
Updated: 2019-03-31
Packaged: 2019-12-27 04:08:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,576
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18296537
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lunarweather/pseuds/lunarweather
Summary: There was no shortage of opinions about soulmates and what it all meant, why people were connected like this, why god or the universe pointed them out to you, saying, ‘Hey look at them, they mean something!’ Clint had seen enough to come to his own conclusion. He figured it meant you had something to learn from them. You didn’t have to love them or spend the rest of your life together. They were pointed out to teach you a lesson.Clint currently didn’t want to think too hard about what he was suppose to learn from this.





	Words to Live Your Life By

**Author's Note:**

> This takes place in a post CA:WS AU where SHIELD is still intact and Steve finds Bucky before Civil War (which does not take place here) and AoU doesn't happen either so there is no Vision and JARVIS still exists.
> 
>  
> 
> \--------------------------------------------------------  
> I will go more in depth into the soulmate side later on but here are the basics in case you are unfamiliar with Soulmate mythology you are not completely lost. The first words your soulmate says to you are written somewhere on your body in the speakers handwriting. Some people don't have a soulmate so they have no words, some people have more than one set of words. 1-2 sets are the most common, usually given a platonic or romantic designation. There is no difference between the appearance of platonic and romantic words. You have to figure that out.
> 
>  
> 
> \---------------------------------------------------------  
> I honestly never thought I would write a soulmate AU. I've got so many other stories I should be working on instead but this plopped itself in my brain the other day and hasn't stopped poking. So here we are.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Clint continued working over the punching bag but glanced over as Barnes entered the Compound gym. His clothes were already sticking to his body with sweat, so he must have gone with Steve on one of his marathon runs. Sam had already warned him and there was no way Clint was ever going anywhere near that event. Who the hell wanted to run that much?

 

“Hey.”

 

Clint nodded in response and turned his attention back to the bag as Barnes started unloading his duffel.

 

He had been away for the big return from Wakanda. He’d actually been gone the first time Steve had brought Barnes in, not that he had seen much of either of them when he was here. They were usually locked away somewhere, be it Steve’s quarters or one of the labs. A couple of awkward meals happened where everyone ended up talking around him before Steve whisked the former Hydra assassin away to Wakanda to clear out what conditioning they could. As far as Natasha had said, now that they were back Barnes was regularly seen all around the Compound. He didn’t seem too happy about it ninety percent of the time, so there was little doubt Steve was behind it. And if Shuri had been successful, Barnes was probably running out of excuses Steve would accept to remain hidden in his room.

 

Poor guy. He did not envy having the almost undivided attention of Steve Rogers 24/7.

 

Seeing Barnes pull handwraps out of his bag Clint paused and addressed the super soldier.

 

“If you want to use the bag, I’m almost done; just give me like, five minutes.”

 

He began another melee but paused to swat some bug on his leg and then stopped completely when he noticed the change in the room.

 

He turned back to Barnes, who had frozen in place, right arm across his chest, holding his ribs, looking at the archer like he had suckerpunched him.

 

“What?” Clint glanced around to see what could have spooked the man. They were the only ones there. Nothing had moved or looked suspicious. The uneasy feeling grew when he saw Barnes scanning the room as well, not for threats but for… witnesses? What the hell? Nothing had even happened. They had barely even said anything to each other. In fact it was probably the first time they had even…

 

Clint’s eyes went wide and his right hand instinctively dropped to his upper thigh. Right where he knew the word **_Hey._ ** was inscribed across his skin. Where he had swatted at the non existent bug.

 

“Holy shit,” he said, shocked. Not a bug, the Soulbite. It was supposed to feel like someone was pinching your soulmark when you said your soulmate’s words. “Did we just…” Clint had stopped paying attention years ago. ‘Hey’ was just too common to get hopeful everytime. “Are we…”

 

He looked down at his leg, like he could see his mark through his shorts. By the time he looked back up Barnes was on him, grabbing him by the shirt and shoving him against the wall. Clint blamed shock for his lack of response but he also knew his instinct was driving. Whether he was being influenced by some kind of ‘soulmate brain’ was debatable but Barnes wasn’t attacking him, he could have easily knocked Clint out cold with one punch from the arm; he instead was restraining him and not very well.

 

Clint was surprised but weirdly not afraid, especially considering the deathglare Barnes was giving him. But, hey, he still had and inch or two on the guy, so...

 

“No.”

 

No? What did that even mean?

 

“Are you trying to tell me that what I just said isn’t scrawled across you somewhere in my handwriting?”

 

“It doesn’t mean anything,” Barnes almost snarled.

 

Snarled? Maybe Clint should at least be a little worried. This was definitely not the reaction people normally had in this situation. Was this really happening?

 

“I don’t want this,” he said, emphasizing his point by pushing Clint against the wall a few time as he spoke, “I don’t want you.”

 

Okay, ouch. Clint could understand that opinion, plenty people had it, but still. He tried to play it off with a smile. “That’s a bit rash don’t you think? You don’t even know me.”

 

He felt Barnes’ grip tighten, “I don’t need to know you. Nothing is happening because of this besides both of us forgetting it did.”

 

“Why-”

 

“And you’re not going to tell anything about this.”

 

The shock and awe of the moment was starting to wear off and now Clint was starting to get a little pissed. “Is that so?”

 

“Yes,” Barnes pressed as his gaze bore deeper into him.

 

Those eyes would have been pretty hot if they weren’t currently trying to kill him all on their own. As it was he was doing his best to talk to the freckles across the man’s nose so he wouldn’t focus on how much...there was a lot of different stuff but he was going to call it all bad. It was full of very bad feeling.

 

Clint turned his smile to a smirk and purred, “Or what?” Because why the hell not rile up someone who could kill him in two seconds, he was feeling like being a dick and at this point he was sliding into defence mechanisms.

 

“I heard you had a warped sense of humor,” Barnes growled, leaning in, “Do you think this is funny?”

 

Clint shrugged, some part of him still not believing that this could be real. But, hey, if it was going to happen to someone of course it would be him.

 

“Sure feels like someone’s laughing about this somewhere. Probably hell. I can see Loki cackling over it.” It was getting harder to keep the smirk up, not when his soulmate was looking at him like that. He never wanted his soulmate to… like he… like his…

 

He tried to turn away but Barnes grabbed his jaw, cold metal forcing his head back, snapping, “Does it looking I’m kidding around here?”

 

Clint stopped himself from reacting. His breathing was carefully measured even though his heart was beating faster. He hated that something like this still scared him. He was a grown ass man, dammit.

 

All humor was gone, his voice quiet, when he finally responded, “You seem pretty serious.”

 

Barnes blinked and looked down at his hand before slowing releasing his hold. Their eyes met again and he looked resigned. “I don’t want anyone to know about this. So what do you want? What do I have to do for your silence.”

 

Now Clint was just insulted. Forget this.

 

“Hey, JARVIS.”

 

Barnes tensed. He had clearly forgotten about the AI’s presence in the Compound.

 

“We’re good here. I’m not in danger. We’re just sparring.”

 

“ _Clearly,_ ” the AI said, sounding unimpressed, “ _Are you sure_?”

 

“Absolutely. Did you already send out an alert?”

 

“ _I did not. The situation required further analysis before safety protocols would activate_.”

 

Clint raised his eyebrows at Barnes, “There you go, no harm no foul. Are we good here?”

 

Barnes looked uncertain, “You didn’t answer my question.”

 

Clint sighed, suddenly tired, “I don’t want anything from you Barnes. I won’t tell anyone. I’ve got no reason to. No one needs to know this ever happened.” He waited a few seconds but when he wasn’t released he bit out, “Can I go now?”

 

Barnes frowned at him.

 

“What?” Clint snapped, “Is my word not good enough for you? You want to spit shake, sign it in blood? What?”

 

Barnes let go and stepped away.

 

Clint took a moment to take a breath, in case Barnes changed his mind, before moving to quickly gather his things.

 

He didn’t look back as he exited the gym, calling over his shoulder, “The bag’s all yours.”

 

The door swished close behind him and he took a shuttered breath.

 

He’d met his soulmate.

 

Shit.

 

His soulmate was James Barnes. The Winter Soldier.

 

Of course he was.

 

He breathed out a shaky laugh then caught himself on the wall when his legs started to give out. He was shaking. When had that started? Had he been shaking in front of Barnes?

 

Clint put a hand through his hair and pushed off the wall. Get it together Barton. So he had met his soulmate. So what? Barnes was right, this didn’t have to mean anything. He had already decided years ago that it wasn’t going to be a big deal.

 

There was no shortage of opinions about soulmates and what it all meant, why people were connected like this. Why god or the universe pointed them out to you, saying, ‘Hey look at them, they mean something!’ Clint had seen enough to come to his own conclusion. He figured it meant you had something to learn from them. You didn’t have to love them or spend the rest of your life together. They were pointed out to teach you a lesson.

 

Clint currently didn’t want to think too hard about what he was suppose to learn from a soulmate that wanted nothing to do with him.

 

To be honest he’d seen people in more dangerous and unhealthy relationships with their soulmate than this, so, all in all, it could have been worse.

 

Clint nodded and made his way back to his quarters.

 

It could have been worse.

 

And weren’t those the words he lived his life by?

 

**Author's Note:**

> I've got more to this if people are interested. This is just one scene and there is much more going on here than Clint knows.


End file.
